Earlier this year the First Circuit punted on the appeal of Puerto
Rico's marriage case, saying that it would wait until SCOTUS rules.
Today we finally got that decision. Via Lambda Legal:

Today’s decision provides further
recognition of the dignity and equality of LGBT people in Puerto Rico.
We applaud the First Circuit for recognizing that Puerto Rico’s marriage
ban is unconstitutional, and reversing the lower court ruling. We also
commend the Puerto Rico government for joining in the call to end the
marriage ban. Certainly, after the historic ruling from the Supreme
Court, this ruling from the First Circuit was not unexpected. There
remains no legal or moral justification for forcing same-sex couples in
Puerto Rico to wait any longer to have their love and commitment
recognized by the state. The Governor of Puerto Rico already signed an
executive order on June 26 that marriages will begin 15 days after the
Supreme Court ruling, but now that the First Circuit has agreed that the
marriage ban is unconstitutional, same-sex couples should be able to
marry now. To do otherwise is to put form over substance.

It's very easy to assume that Judaism is an exclusively gender-binary
religion. Almost all of the common traditional laws are based on the
assumed differences between males and females. We see it in assumed
gender roles, in liturgy, in proscribed family responsibilities, and in
both our secular and religious laws.

If, however, we look just a
bit deeper into our sacred texts, we see that a simple male/female
binary is not only cumbersome, it's wholly inaccurate. This description
from Trans Torah/Rabbi Elliot Kukla starts the conversation that we will continue throughout the summer:

Zachar/זָכָר: This term is derived from the word for a pointy sword and refers to a phallus. It is usually translated as “male” in English.

Nekeivah/נְקֵבָה:
This term is derived from the word for a crevice and probably refers to
a vaginal opening. It is usually translated as “female” in English.

Androgynos/אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס:
A person who has both “male” and “female” sexual characteristics. 149
references in Mishna and Talmud (1st-8th Centuries CE); 350 in classical
midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd -16th Centuries CE).

Tumtum/טֻומְטוּם A
person whose sexual characteristics are indeterminate or obscured. 181
references in Mishna and Talmud; 335 in classical midrash and Jewish law
codes.

Ay’lonit/איילונית:
A person who is identified as “female” at birth but develops “male”
characteristics at puberty and is infertile. 80 references in Mishna and
Talmud; 40 in classical midrash and Jewish law codes.

Saris/סריס:
A person who is identified as “male” at birth but develops “female”
characteristics as puberty and/or is lacking a penis. A saris can be
“naturally” a saris (saris hamah), or become one through human
intervention (saris adam). 156 references in mishna and Talmud; 379 in
classical midrash and Jewish law codes.

There's
a huge amount of information to unpack here, and we'll be continuing
all summer long to do just that, including looking at the legal
obligations of each of the genders and what the real-world application
of this information is. For now, though, the main point to take from all
of this: The male/female binary is not, in any way, the exclusive
system of gender classification in traditional Judaism*.

So how
did we get to this point, where the assumption has become that only male
and female exist? It's a classic example of commonality being equated
to superiority. Because male and female are the two most common
categories, they were assumed to be "better," rather than "typical." As
we have come to understand the complexities of gender more and more in
secular society, these Judaic classifications are beginning to appear
more and more often and we can clearly see that our ancestors were quite
progressive when it comes to gender.

Ben
Bagbag said: Turn it [Torah] over and turn it over because everything
is in it. Look within it and grow old within it; do not move from it,
because there is no better attribute for you to have than it.

“What is behind accusation, jealousy, possession, conflict, and all the
other games of lust? It is the belief that our happiness depends on the
other. This is the basic illusion that makes us a slave to the other.”

Anger
doesn't just happen to us. If we're able to catch an angry thought as
it's budding, we can let it go. The same is true of despair or
hopelessness. And when letting go is too difficult, a good medicine for
dealing with these emotions is to reach out and help others, healing
them and ourselves.